Transforming Tension into Creativity; The Power of the Mussel

In my part of the world, Mussels are a pretty common shellfish. When you are beachcombing, the mussel shell is not considered one of the "real treasures" and often gets tossed aside because it is so common. I have however, seen a lot of crafts that used mussel shells and am reminded of a few rainy day camp craft activities that always seemed to involve the mussel shell, glue, and whatever else just happened to be around. Take a mussel shell, a piece of driftwood, two of those rolling eye buttons from craft stores, a couple of pieces of felt, and enough glue and you'll have a treasure that some mother will keep forever!

In season, mussels are one of the cheaper shell fish to buy and most restuarants have their own "house special" variety- often served as an appetizer. All you need is a bit of butter, onion, garlic, and mushrooms in a big pot. Then you pour in a bottle of beer or some white wine and when it's boiling you put in the washed mussels (shell and all). When the shells open up in the steam,  you have a really good feed.

It turns out mussels have a connection to the second chakra, gall bladder, and creativity, according to Sabina Pettitt in "Energy Medicine, Healing from Kingdoms of Nature". 

The outside of the mussel shell is pretty dark- usually black with a bit of dark purple mixed in. It's a rough exterior and it's often covered with dark seaweed. But the inside of the shell is a total contrast. It's quite translucent, almost a pearly white with shades of pink, light blue, and violet. Sabina Pettitt writes that the outside of the shell corresponds to the energy of anger or tension, and the inside is that anger transformed into radiance. When anger, irrititability and frustration  is stored up we "wear it" on the outside, often resulting in stiff neck and shoulders. Hold enough of it in, and you end up with headaches, and dizziness from all that stored tension. Mussels resonate with the gall bladder which, in chinese medicine is responsible for making decisions and wise judgements. Blocked gall bladder energy is tight and controllling, a self destructive, judging type energy. Interestingly, gall baldder problems are often felt in the shoulder area- a meridian connection. According to Pettitt, that type of restriction in the neck and gall bladder meridan also creates an energy blockage between the heart and the mind.

The second chakra is our centre of creativity and sexual expression. Oriah Mountain Dreamer in, "What We Ache For", writes that she believes we need to feel and express our creativity in order to feel fully alive.She defines that sexual expression as a spiritual connection to ourselves. Oriah writes that "Doing creative work allows us to follow the thread of what we ache for into a deeper life, offering a way to cultivate a life of making love to the world." That sounds like second chakra work to me.

So, the lesson from the mussle shell is to transform what you carry on the outside into what you really want to express from the inside. It's about allowing that transformation to be expressed in creative ways. I figure there are a number of ways to do this and you can take your pick.

You can go eat a bowl of mussles and see if you feel more relaxed and more creative. Better yet, you can create your own recipe- measurments don't have to be exact, and if you use wine, there is likely a glass or two left over that might aid your creativity as well.

Sabina Pettitt deals with essence therapy. So if you don't want to eat mussels, you can use the essence to enhance healing and transformation. I haven't used these, so I can't recommend them first hand, but I'll be doing some more research. In the meantime you can check them out for yourself at http://www.pacificessences.com/seaess.html

Finally, maybe it's just a good day to sit down with a glue gun, some empty mussel shells colllected from the beach, and left over craft supplies. See what you can create. Pretend you're at camp  making a present for your mother or someone that loves you unconditionally.  That way, all judgement is released- whatever you create will be cherished just because you made it.

Have fun being you.